“Give me twenty minutes.”
“Good, thank you.”
I hung up as I looked over at the skip’s house. He lived with his mom, who worked days as a nurse, and yet, I could see a lamp burning in a front window. He was probably home right now, an easy thousand-dollar bounty, but he would have to wait. I pulled away from the curb and headed for Trinity Park.
Brenda Downing was in her fifties and had been a bounty hunter for almost twenty years.
She was a tough-looking woman who smoked, and like Burt Tucker, Brenda had battled alcohol and won. She smiled at me with relief showing on her face as I walked up to her.
“Thanks for coming, Blue.”
“What’s going on, Brenda? Why do the cops think you’re a murderer?”
“I’m being framed.”
“Framed, by who?”
“By that girl, Susan, the one they call Blondie.”
“Blondie? Why would she frame you? Are you saying she’s the murderer?”
Brenda stared at me then with an odd look, as she stomped out her cigarette.
“I think it’s either her, or you, but I can’t buy you. For one thing, I don’t think that you would ever harm Burt.”
“Of course not, he’s like an uncle to me, but why would I have killed Marcus or Joe, or that other bounty hunter, the one from El Paso?”
“For money, Blue, I think that Blondie is killing us for the money.”
“What money?”
Brenda pointed toward the river.
“Let’s take a walk.”
“The armored car robbery? You found the money?”
“Hell, Blue, we found the armored car. It was just sitting inside that truck garage at the abandoned refinery.”
“That’s why you seemed so nervous that day, but why would the robbers have just left it sitting there with the money inside?”
“They didn’t, they were there too, or one of them was, the other three were dead. It looked to us like greed had gotten the better of one of them, and he made a play for the money. One man had been shot in the back of the head; he was probably the first to go. All I know is that when we walked into that old garage, that truck was sitting there with the back doors open and the money still inside. The last member of the heist crew was still alive but dying. He was sitting on the floor and leaning back against the truck. He was so weak that he couldn’t even lift his gun, and then he died… after that, it was just the four of us and the money.”
“Oh Brenda, why didn’t you guys just call the cops?”
“There’s nearly two million dollars, Blue, two million, would you walk away from that?”
“Yes, if it wasn’t mine. I can’t believe that Burt was a part of this.”
“A part? Hell, most of it was his idea. He had Marcus and Joe haul the money out of the armored car and place it all down in the floor.”
“In the floor?”
“You know, one of those pits the mechanics use to stand in while they work beneath the trucks, for oil changes and such. Then, while the money was being hidden, Burt and I cleaned up the blood and tried to cover up the truck as well as we could with a bunch of old oil-stained tarps. The tarps hid it well, but it wasn’t perfect, and so I went out to look for more of them. That’s when I ran into you and Blondie.”
“What about the robbers? What did you do with the bodies?”
“Once the money was out of the truck, they went into it, along with the rags we used to clean-up the blood. Later that night we went back and moved the truck and the money.”
“Moved it where? The cops are still looking for it.”
“We buried it. Marcus used to work in construction for his brother’s company. That night, he borrowed a flatbed truck and a backhoe. By morning, we had the truck and the money buried good and deep.”
“Why bury the money?”
“We were going to be smart. We had a once in a lifetime opportunity for wealth fall in our laps and we weren’t going to blow it. We were going to wait a year, let the heat die down, let the investigation go cold, and then dig up that money and divide it. It was half a million apiece, Blue. That kind of money could make life much easier, and who were we hurting?”
“What went wrong?”
“Joe Ryan was killed. He was the third victim of that serial killer. The rest of us thought that it was just a coincidence. We even made a vow to funnel his share of the money to his family, so we weren’t greedy. I had no reason to think that Marcus or Burt had killed him for his share.”
“But then Marcus was killed by a hit and run driver.”
“Exactly, and that’s when Burt and I grew wary of each other, that is, until he remembered something curious that had happened.”
“What?”
“Burt said he spotted Blondie, and that it was right after we had buried the money.”
“Where was this?”
“At a convenience store, he stopped to get a coffee and Blondie pulled in right behind him, like she’d been following him.”
“It had to be a coincidence, where did it happen?”
Brenda gave me a sly look.
“I’m not telling you where the money is, Blue.”
“And I’m not asking, but it had to be a coincidence, because Blondie’s not the devious type. She wasn’t following anyone; she was just stopping for a coffee or something.”
“If that’s true, then what happened to Burt? He told me that he was going to talk to Blondie, to feel her out and see what she knew. He disappeared right after that.”
“Blondie?” I said, trying to wrap my head around her being a murderer. I couldn’t buy it. “If Blondie were killing you four so she could have the money all to herself, why would she have killed the other three victims, she didn’t even know them?”
Brenda shook her head. “That’s not true of all of them. Burt looked into it and found out that Frank Quatro worked with Blondie’s father his first year on the job, and the guy from El Paso used to date her mother after her father’s murder. Besides, their deaths muddy the water.”
“Her father wasn’t murdered; I thought that it was ruled a suicide?”
“That’s another thing, Burt knew one of the cops on the case, from back in the old days. The guy retired two years ago, but he remembered the case. They tested Blondie’s mother for gunshot residue, but not Blondie. She was in the house, Blue. Maybe she heard her father raping her mother and decided that enough was enough. He was found right there in the bed. The cop said that Blondie never shed a tear.”
“So why didn’t they test her?”
“Burt said that they knew her father was no good, figured if it did happen that way, that it was trauma enough for one life, and the girl was only ten.”
We stood there by the shore as I absorbed Brenda’s words and revelations. I looked back at the Mark Twain statue and saw a family of four each taking a turn getting their picture taken as they sat beside Twain on his bench.
“What are you thinking, Blue?”
“I’m wondering why you called me.”
“That girl trusts you. Help me set a trap for her, something that will show the cops she’s involved in those murders. If we can somehow do it without bringing up the money… I’ll split it with you.”
“To hell with the money, Brenda; you just told me that one of my friends might be a murderer. Forget about setting a trap. Go to the police, tell them what you told me, let them bring Blondie in and learn the truth, whatever it may be.”
“But, it’s almost two million dollars.”
I looked at her in disgust. All she really cared about was the damn money.
“If you don’t go to the cops soon, then I will. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, ah, damn it Blue, I shouldn’t have said shit to you. Burt always said you were too much a straight arrow, just like your old man.”
“I just try to do what’s right, and yes, it’s how I was raised. I’m disappointed in Burt. He should have known better.”
; Brenda charged at me and wagged her finger in my face.
“What are you, in your twenties? You’re dating a rich lawyer, and everybody knows that you save every penny for that pie-in-the-sky horse ranch of yours. You’ve got decades to get ready for old age, Burt didn’t and neither do I. I’m 56, Blue. Time is slipping away and I’m looking at spending my old age in a trailer park. We didn’t rob that armored car, we found it. It would just be plain stupid to hand that money back to people that don’t need it. If I found that money tomorrow, I’d do it all again.”
She backed away and glared at me and I met her gaze, but with less venom in my eyes.
“Brenda, please go to the police. Whether it’s Blondie or someone else, someone is after that money and you’re the last one who knows where it’s hidden.”
“Unless Burt talked, I keep thinking that that’s why he’s missing, that he’s somewhere being tortured for what he knows.”
I nearly laughed. I could see Blondie as a torturer even less than I could see her as a murderer.
“I’ll talk to Blondie and find out what she knows.”
“Be careful, Blue; she may look like an angel, but there could be a devil inside.”
“That devil is in all of us, Brenda.”
Blondie wasn’t answering her phone, and when I called in, Randy told me that she had left the office.
I returned to the house where my skip lived. I found him walking down the street with a beer in one hand and a cell phone in the other. I parked my truck across the street from him and walked over to confront him.
“José Muneaz?”
“Yeah?”
“You missed your court date. I’m here to arrest you and bring you in.”
“What? You ain’t no cop.”
“No, I’m a bail enforcement agent, and you’ve forfeited your bail by missing your appearance. Now put away your phone, sit the can on the ground, and place your hands behind your back.”
“Oh man, this sucks.”
“You should have gone to court, then I wouldn’t be here.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Whatever, I hear that a lot. Whatever is not a good way to go through life.
I dropped José off and tried Blondie again. Still no answer, and that was very unlike her.
As I drove along, I heard a phone ring, but it was an unfamiliar ringtone. When I checked my phone, it wasn’t ringing.
I pulled over to the shoulder of the highway, where I searched under the seats and found the source of the ringing. I had a second phone. It belonged to José Muneaz, the “whatever” guy. It must have slipped out of his pocket as we rode along. I was thinking about turning around and taking it back to the jail when my own phone rang. It was Gary.
“Hey honey, what’s up?”
“I want to take you out to dinner tonight, and I’m talking fancy.”
“On a Thursday night? What’s the occasion?”
“I just have a craving for lobster, and I want to eat it while I’m looking at you wearing something slinky.”
“That’s a very specific craving, but I think it can be appeased.”
“Good, I’ll pick you up at seven?”
“Seven o’clock, I’ll see you then.”
I decided that I could return Muneaz’s phone tomorrow, instead, I went shopping for a new dress, something slinky.
That night, I was at a five-star restaurant in Dallas and sipping on a glass of very expensive wine. Gary was too handsome for words in a new blue suit, and the atmosphere was romantic.
“So, what’s the occasion? Did your firm snag a rich client?”
“I’m not celebrating business; I’m celebrating us.”
“But our anniversary isn’t for weeks.”
He grinned. “Do I need a reason to spoil you?”
“No, spoil on.”
The conversation stayed light over dinner, but as we ate dessert, the mood turned serious.
“I heard about the shoot-out at that strip club, you were nearly killed, weren’t you?”
“I won’t lie, it was dicey, but I wasn’t hurt, I’m fine.”
Gary ran his hand over his face, and I could tell that he was trying to contain his anger.
“Your job is so dangerous, and it kills me that you don’t seem to care.”
“I care, and I’m careful, but it is my job. It’s what I do.”
“What about your dream of owning a ranch?”
“I get closer to it every year.”
“I already own a ranch. You could be living your dream tomorrow.”
“What? You want to give me your ranch?”
“Well, my share of it could be yours… if you married me.”
Gary brought out a ring box and my jaw dropped. Despite the fancy restaurant, the expensive bottles of wine and the violins playing in the background, I had not expected a proposal.
“I love you. Marry me, Blue?”
I began crying tears of joy.
“Yes, yes I’ll marry you.”
Chapter 6
We were lying together in bed, after having put the damn thing to good use.
Gary was holding me in his arms, and I swear that if I had been a cat, I would have been purring.
“A white dress?”
“Why not?” Gary said.
“The last few hours in this bed, for starters.”
“That’s old-fashioned. I can’t wait to see you in a big white wedding dress.”
“With a veil?”
“No veil, it’s a crime to cover this face.”
He kissed me, I kissed him back and we were nearly off to the races again, but then he said something that broke the spell.
“You’ll have plenty of time to shop for a dress, now that you’re no longer working.”
“What?”
“The bounty hunting, that’s over, I mean, you’ll be living at the ranch, our ranch.”
“You want to move to Bandera?”
“No, my firm is here, but I’ll fly out every weekend to be with you.”
I sat up in bed and Gary did the same.
“You want me to quit my job and go live at the ranch with your brother and sister?”
“No, I want you to quit your job and live out your dream of owning a ranch, while living with our brother and sister. Once we marry, they’ll be your family too you know.”
“I don’t want to live in Bandera. I like this area, and Bandera is too far from my mama, my family.”
“It’s not that at all, is it? You just don’t want to give up bounty hunting.”
“I like being a bounty hunter, if I didn’t, I would do something else.”
“That’s not the reason; the reason is that you’re a danger junkie. It’s why you’re always chasing the most dangerous men you can find.”
“I chase that type because they pay more, and the more I make, the sooner I’ll be able to buy a ranch.”
“But you’ll have a ranch. The second we marry, you’ll be part owner of a ranch.”
“In Bandera, which is three hundred miles away, and I’ll only see you on the weekends. Gary, I don’t want that life.”
He gave me a look that told me I had hurt him, then, he got out of bed and put a robe on.
“Forget Bandera, forget the ranch, we’ll live here, and spend the weekends there, how’s that sound?”
I smiled. “It sounds better, much better, now come back to bed.”
He snapped his fingers, as an idea just occurred to him.
“I have a former client who’s also a friend. He’s retiring, and he’s selling his business in Arlington. It’s a place where they board horses. That would be perfect for you.”
“For me? How?”
“Oh, well, I just assumed that you’d want to work, at least until we began having children.”
“I will work, as a bail enforcement agent. It’s what I do and I’m good at it.”
Gary shook his head. “No. Not once we’re married. I have no right to ask you to quit as y
our boyfriend, but as your husband, I’ll insist.”
“Why do you hate what I do so much?”
“Because it’s dangerous, and sooner or later, sooner or later you won’t duck fast enough, or shoot quick enough… and I’ll lose you. I can’t stand what you do, Blue. I hate the fact that you’re always in danger.”
I got out of bed and grabbed my clothes.
“Why are you getting dressed?”
“I’m going home. I need to think and I’m going home to do it.”
“What’s there to think about? Go back to that dingy storefront office of Ron’s and tell him that you’re through with bounty hunting. You’re getting married and your husband doesn’t want you risking your life for peanuts anymore.”
“What if I asked you to stop defending criminals, would you do it?”
Gary spread his hands wide.
“I’m a criminal lawyer; it’s what I do.”
“It’s what you choose to do, why not practice contract law?”
He laughed. “I’d be bored to death if I did that.”
“Right, and I’d be bored to death working in sales, or as a clerk. I like my job, I take bad people off the street and occasionally I get to help the good ones.”
“You refuse to leave your job?”
“Refuse?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Then yes, I refuse, and I’ll tell you something else. You hurt me tonight. I thought you accepted me as I am, job and all.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, but I’m not going to marry someone who risks her life for a few thousand dollars. I can’t spend my life living in dread.”
I opened my mouth and realized that I had run out of things to say. I headed for the door.
“We’ll talk tomorrow.”
I opened the bedroom door, but then paused to take off the ring he had given me. Once I’d removed it, I sat it atop his dresser.
“I think you should hold on to this for now.”
He didn’t say anything in response, and I left.
I didn’t sleep at all. I loved Gary, but I wasn’t going to change who I was just to make him happy, and I wouldn’t expect him to do so either.
Blue Steele Box Set Page 14